We like to walk dogs at a local cemetery. It is an old cemetery and some of the stones are beautiful pieces of art work. It is a rather large place too. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times we go there, I always see something that I never noticed before. I always learn something too. From the surnames on some of the stones, I learn how some of the streets and roads in the area were named. I notice that some first names seem unusual and have gone out of fashion. From seeing the different types of monuments you call tell what medium holds up the best and what was in fashion at the time. There is zinc, marble, and granite. Some are plain, others are ornate, big, small, with urns, human likenesses, floral carvings, or symbols.

You can also tell how some of the people likely passed from the period of time. Lots of folks have dates on their stones from the time of World War I and World War II and also from the time of the great flu epidemic early in the 1900’s. Also lots of infants and young children have grave stones from times when growing to adulthood was not so certain.

The dogs are just happy to go for walks.  They don’t care where. Blitz and Shelby are pictured. Since this cemetery is large, paved, and picturesque, many people exercise here. There are other dog walkers like me, and lone walkers and joggers too, with sometimes occasional picnickers thrown in. Once in a while I encounter someone I know who is also walking. It is an especially nice place to be in the spring and early summer months. The old plantings of trees, shrubs, and flowers are beautiful.

I think it is rather nice to take a place that was set aside for the dearly (or some not so dearly) departed and infuse a bit of life into it. I know it would make me happy to know that the final resting place of my earthly body was a place that brought joy to children, dogs, and other fellow humans.